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Lamar Community News

Council holds first meeting of the New Year

By Lance Maggart The Lamar Ledger

Posted:
01/16/2014 07:29:48 AM MST

The first meeting of the New Year for the Lamar City Council was held Mon. night Jan. 13, 2014.

The Lamar City Council approved a resolution allowing an Urban Renewal Agreement between the Lamar Redevelopment Authority (LRA) and Beacon Broadcasting, LLC d/b/a/ KVAY. As part of the resolution the City of Lamar has agreed to provide some in-kind work to the success of the project.

At the Dec. 23, 2013 meeting of the LRA the board agreed to provide funding to assist KVAY (Beacon Broadcasting) with some of the costs of property rehabilitation on their building located at 114 S. Main St. in Lamar.

The grant amount total is $71,804 to come from the 2014 URA (Urban Renewal Agreement) budget. The monies for the Urban Renewal Agreement are provided by tax revenues taken from within the Urban Renewal District that is contained within Lamar City limits.

Lamar Police Dept. (LPD) Chief Gary McCrea addressed the Council to request approval of the purchase of four previously budgeted Chevrolet Tahoes. The total purchase price for the vehicles is $136,720.37. The total cost includes interest. The LPD expects the vehicles to be fully paid off in four years.

All four of the new vehicles will be four-wheel-drive and none will be used for patrol duties.

The Council approved the purchase.

In-kind services to be provided by the City of Lamar and to be administered for improvements such as approximately 70' sewer replacement, grant administration by the Lamar Partnership, Inc.

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(LPI) and professional fees (e.g. drawings, architecture and engineering) will total $5,050.

The 93rd annual Lamar Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Banquet will be held on Thu. Jan. 30, 2014 at the Lamar Eagles Aerie Lodge located at 1220 S. Main St. in Lamar, Colo. A dinner of fresh green salad, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, fresh rolls, and chocolate cake will be served. A "Meet and Greet" will begin at 6 p.m. with the banquet starting at 6:30 p.m. Please RSVP by Jan. 24 at 336-4379.

Public Works Director Pat Mason presented findings from a recent investigation conducted by his department on the cost per cubic yard of delivering solid waste service to the citizens of Lamar.

Each residential customer of the City of Lamar Sanitation Services pays $18 per month for residential waste collection and disposal.

According to Mason each 28 cubic-yard truck typically collects waste from 344 customers per week during the month of Dec. when the figures were taken.

The Public Works Dept. figures show that the average cost per cubic yard paid by City of Lamar customers for collection and disposal is $51.03.

The City of Lamar currently charges $7 per cubic yard of disposal at the landfill.

Mason also addressed the Council to update them on the recent bid process for the purchase of asphalt, concrete and road base. The bid amounts accepted by the Council remain in effect for 12 months, from Jan. 1, 2014 - Dec. 31, 2014. Mason recommended the Council award bids to All Rite Paving and Ready Mix, Carder Inc., Robin's Redi-Mix, and Riverside Aggregates LLC. The Council approved the recommendation and awarded the bids.

The City of Lamar is an objector in the Lower Arkansas Water Management Association's (LAWMA) water court application. The City objects to the case to protect its interest in the Ft. Bent Ditch and to make sure that LAWMA did not agree to terms and conditions that Lamar could not live with in Lamar's change of its Ft. Bent shares.

The case is now set for trial and LAWMA has proposed a decree to "get Lamar out of their case" as an objector. They have request that Lamar "stipulate" to this decree.

The City's water attorney reviewed the decree and stipulation and believes it does not injure Lamar's water rights and recommends that Lamar agree and stipulate to the attached decree.

The Council approved the City water attorney's recommendation.

The Council approved the posting locations for Lamar City Council meetings for 2014. The list of posting locations is unchanged from 2013.

Lamar City Council meeting notices will be posted at the following locations:

Lamar City Council Chambers

Bulletin Board at south end of City Complex hall

Hallway entrance between Lamar City Complex and the Lamar Public Library (pockets on the north wall)

City Complex Break room

Lamar Recreation Dept.

Lamar Street Dept.

Lamar Water Dept.

KVAY

KLMR

The Prowers Journal

The Lamar Ledger

The Pueblo Chieftain

Lamar Light & Power

Lamar Chamber of Commerce

Prowers County Development Inc.

Community Resource & Senior Citizen Center

Lamar Workforce Center

Prowers County Administrators Office

Prowers County Sheriff's Office

Lamar Community College

Lamar School District

City of Lamar Clerk Linda Williams presented the City Sales & Use Tax report. The Sales & Use Tax collected in Dec. 2013 totaled $274,597.90 up $3,975.41, or 1.47 percent, from Dec. 2012 collections of $270,622.49. Year to Date Sale & Use Tax collections for 2013 totaled $3,444,559.00, up $100,811.88 or 3.01 percent, from the 2012 total Sales & Use Tax collections of $343,747.12.

The Council approved a facilities use agreement for the Lamar Community Building between the City of Lamar and local personal trainer Kelsey Herrera.

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